Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

Set Your Words Free From Pandemic Blahs & Blocks

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It seems like forever ago when the pandemic began and we were scared: this was the beginning of a temporary situation, all would be well soon, we said – and we put some aspects of our lives and thought, “I can do this for a while, I suppose.”

And we did. And now a while is a lot longer than we expected or suspected it would be and many of us are left feeling either defensive or constricted or unable to break through the barriers. We know, intellectually, we have been the ones who create, tear down and build up our thought barriers yet here we sit.

Pencils unmoving. Pens, immobile. Fingers a long way from the keyboard.

Some of you don’t know I almost died of Sepsis back in October. For many days I sat in this exact spot I am sitting in right now and wouldn’t touch my computer that sat on the table right next to me. I just couldn’t do it. As much as I loved writing and knew underneath this wall of inability and destructive thoughts it would be what would make it all better, I sat. Facing the opposite direction. Once I got home there was no television, I didn’t know about podcasts, few phone calls from friends or family, very little interaction at all. Every day it stayed the same.

Julie JordanScott in the hospital while she was battling pneumonia, sepsis and multiple organ failure.

It was my rehearsal for the pandemic.

In retrospect I look back and wish someone had handed me my computer and my keyboard and asked me to type in a question.

I know myself well enough to know the question – any question – would be all I would need to begin to write – and to begin to feel – again.

This is why I feel so strongly about leading these writing sessions, these mini-workshops. They’re open for anyone who can tune into either YouTube or Facebook Live. We will be there, everyday, I will provide you a question and together we will write.

We will – you and me and whomever else is there – feel better and spread that “feeling better” to our communities.

That sounds excellent to me right now, on this Sunday in August, 2020.

Would you like to participate? Two ways to do so. One is by receiving an email every day when #5for5BrainDumps are in session. The other is by joining our Word-Love Facebook Community.

Both options are available right here:

To receive an email with a private video message and writing tips, please subscribe to our #5for5BrainDump Email List:

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To participate in conversation with other participants, join the Word-Love Writing Community Facebook Group where the conversation and livesteam sessions will be accessed in a safe, private writing community.

Portrait of creative life coach and creative life midwife Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Access the visionary prompst from the mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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How Connection Shifts & Grows & Makes Everything Better

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My lousy mood had no chance when I created a Connection and Gratitude Breakfast Sandwich. Add in a cup of yummy coffee and the rest… took care of itself.

One of the sure-fire ways for me to get off course is for me to be in a bad mood.

If I am in a sour mood, I find it difficult to get work. I find it difficult to focus. I find it difficult to create a shift which I know would make everything get better almost instantly.

Maybe you are one of the people in the world who is full of sunshine all the time. I tend to be an optimistic, happy person but recently, it has been more and more difficult to lift myself up and out of a not so great mood.

This morning I found myself in a grumbly, frowny face state of mind. Little annoyances piled into a leaning tower of inner bickering. A chorus of bad vibes were pointing and laughing, taking note of short-comings from as long ago as seventh grade.

This was how I felt before my livestream #5for5BrainDump today – when I was to talk about connection. Being in a foul mood when I am scheduled to talk about one of my favorite subjects was like disappointing a most loved friend. I dreaded the livestream yet I knew I had a date with – less than perfection. 

I was connecting to less than perfection whether I wanted to or not. Full steam ahead.

I started like I usually do – with breath exercises and focus and suddenly, as I breathed the light of connection into my heart space, everything felt better.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. I felt better – and the livestream went on.

Was it my best ever live-stream? Not at all.

Did it provide value? Yes! It did! Here is the prompt we used and you may use now, too:

We are connecting both this week and next week for #5for5BrainDump sessions. If you would enjoy participating, join the Word-Love Writing Community Facebook Group where the conversation and live-stream sessions will be accessed in a safe, private writing community.

Portrait of creative life coach and creative life midwife Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Access the visionary prompst from the mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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How to Choose Aliveness Over… (Insert Bleak Sounding Term for “Uncertain Times”)

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Most of my days I wake up away from home because I house sit for a friend who has been quarantined away from Bakersfield. Lately I have been waking up, walking my way into a haiku poem and photo and getting home in time to fix breakfast for Samuel and myself and starting my work day in my home office.

Today I was shorter on time than usual because I host Ta-Da Tuesday at 7:30 am and I had my #5for5BrainDump writing session to facilitate at 9. I didn’t have time for a lengthy walk and I wanted a walk. Oh, how I wanted to take a walk and it was making me grouchy that I wasn’t able to walk longer and just cavort according to my own choosing.

I arrived at one of the parks I sometimes enjoy spending a slice of time in the morning and felt ornery when I heard leaf blowers. And then I heard lawn mowers. And then I almost didn’t get out of my car to walk because “the noise was ruining my experience (how dare they.”

I remembered I have the luxury of choosing what my responses are. I have the joy of choosing whether or not I walk or whether I take a photo and write a haiku.

I opened my door and stepped out and into the parking lot and immediately smelled fresh, cut grass. I smiled. Yes. I made the right choice. 

I walked across the parking lot and as I lifted my foot, I saw a spent hypodermic needle. I shut my eyes and felt the tendrils of anger rise up from my gut. To the west of the park is a methadone clinic. Naturally there will be heroin addicts around.

I took that anger and breathed love into it. Tonglen meditation says to allow the revulsion to be there and breathe in the revulsion of the many and exhale relief for revulsion. In this moment I breathed in compassion and prayer for the pain of the addict who used the needle. I exhaled relief, I exhaled peace for the person and for other junkies who may have dropped needles in other parks.

All of this was done as I continued to walk. I paused as I walked toward the pond where ducks were swimming to inhale the scent of grass, mounds of freshly cut grass filled me with delight. I went on a short trip in my mind to my elementary school classroom. My heart thrilled at the side-trip.

I realized how sunrise was still putting on a show and felt such joy. I admired the mallards and the other, not-identifiable probably “mutt ducks.” I noticed the pigeons on the roof of the bridge. I smiled as some started circling and dancing and playing as if they were celebrating the sunrise and the freshly mown grass and they were flying around to celebrate the feeling good rather than feeling lousy. I am not yet able to circle around in flight, so I pulled out my notebook.

I noticed as some of the pigeons were not stereotypical looking. One was brown with white spots. Another pigeon was smudged with shades of black. The other pigeons didn’t seem to mind, though in their pecking order I am sure some may hold their beaks in a particularly superior way, but I am not one to pass pigeon judgment.

I didn’t want to leave the park but people were waiting. The rest of my life was waiting.

Because of the seemingly inconsequential choices I made, I was filled up to the brim with passionate aliveness even with noise, even with ugliness, even with any number of things I might have, at another time, labeled as wrong.

This morning I chose passion above being a grouch.

This morning I chose movement above staying stagnant.

This morning I chose tonglen meditation over grumbling about something I stepped over. 

This morning I chose peace over spilling anger and aloofness.

This morning sunrise found me, unexpectedly, as I found myself back to people I connect to with love.

Today, what will you choose?

Portrait of creative life coach and creative life midwife Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Access the visionary prompst from the mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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For the Love of Intention: Acting with Flow for Your Best “What’s Next”

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You are worthy of positive results: set your intention and create a path, always. Person walking through tall grasses, blazing a trail.

Do you know that person? The one who is always stopping you when you’re on a roll, talking about something you’re setting forth, a hope a dream a plan and then that voice pipes up, “What’s your intention here?”

That person speaking up is more than likely me, if we’re together.

Here’s the secret underneath that chronic question: When we start with with intention we are claiming and activating something similar to when we pull back the bow and release the arrow. We are engaging ourselves to take energetic steps on this same spiritual road the arrow takes toward a destination. Do you follow?

Intention is the road, it is the journey, it is the path.

Intention may initially feel like full steam ahead in a linear sprint but here’s the beauty: the road isn’t usually straight and I don’t believe arrows are actually perfectly straight, either.

How about we just let go of the idea that straight one-way-only push push push is the only way to approach life or business or love or anything that matters?

We’re stepping into intention because it matters to have an idea of where your heart most wants you to end up. Like my friend Henry David Thoreau was talking about when he said ‘If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.’

When I throw anything the air is a part of the journey, even if the destination includes a mud puddle.

Basket of possibilities: a beige basket with towels and flowers, an image of self care

Let’s pick up our basket of possibilities and have the courage to consider taking aim. There’s no wrongs possible here. You’re good and you’re surrounded by good.

What’s your intention here?

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The Joy of Writing for Magnetic Attraction: Title in a Circle to Set Your Words Free + cursive writing

We’re opening our hearts and our notebooks for our next Writing Adventure Challenge: Writing for Magnetic Attraction: the series to amp up your writing. For exclusive content via email, sign up for the list below. To participate in the writing community join the Word-Love Writing Community Facebook Group where the conversation and livesteam sessions will be accessed in a safe, private writing community. You may also find us outside the group (if groups aren’t your thing) on Facebook at Writing Camp with JJS, pn my YouTube channel and on Periscope (so if you are on twitter, you will see it there at the same time).

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Portrait of creative life coach and creative life midwife Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Access the visionary promps from the mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, be inspired and re-start your 2020 even if you have been hopelessly stuck in the “everything sucks” space. The Bridge to the New Year Space is welcoming, it includes weekly goals and intentions AND it is free to be a part of it – simply invest your energy in the community and it’s all good!

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Planting Hope, Peace & Love in August and Beyond

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This is what heaven feels like, I thought. This is what peace feels like. Part of my job right now is embracing and creating peace wherever I find it or don’t find it. My idea is this: if I am aware of peace – and if I may expand that feelig of peace – it grows to embrace the rest of the world whether they are in the “Everything sucks” club or if they are in the “Pollyanna I am going to avoid everything” club or someplace in between.

This realization came when I spent a few minutes recently hugging a tree.

“He who plants a tree, plants a hope”

Lucy Larcom
Mill Girl. Poet. She who saw into the future.

This morning I took my morning walk in a park I don’t visit often. It is a lovely park with tall trees – this isn’t always the case in newer neighborhoods.I found myself in this new-to-me-but-not-entire-new-to-me park, fully enjoying the space – completely engaged in the light and shadows and the fresh air from well watered lawns and frequently emptied trash cans.

I decided I would reward myself for being diligent with my walk by hugging a tree. The trees here were still comparatively young so I could hug a tree all the way, wrap my arms completely around it. I watched and looked and decided on a tree that was close to the swings.

“I’ll be back” I told the tree.

I admired the tree as I walked away and looped around the park, fully feeling my feet as they moved on the sidewalks weaving around the park. I have new shoes that are very supportive of my feet so walking is even more pleasurable than it was just a week ago.

I continued walking and added an element of prayer and intention – for the children who play here and their families. I prayed for everyone who has ever visited the park. If any had died, I prayed for the families who were missing them. I prayed for the people in the hospital with Covid19, I prayed for the nurses who gave me such exceptional care when I was hospitalized in October. I came back to the tree.

I faced it, fully, and embraced it with my eyes closed and my spirit so high and happy.

We have the capacity to decide to embrace hope, love and peace. Even when we are in times like when I am writing this: in the midst of a global pandemic, social unrest climbing, continued divisive conflicts within my country. I am still able to stay in a space of hope, love and peace.

Writing Prompt for you to consider ways to stay in this optimistic rather than pessimistic space. Write for at least five minutes. If you are unable to think of what to say, simply write the words “hope, love, peace” repeatedly. Add words that are in a similar “feeling family” such as happiness, gratitude, connecting.

Even when times may be challenging, I am able to stay in a space of hope, love and peace when I choose to…..

Hello, August. Welcome peace, love, calm… happiness, joy… and upset, frustration, dissatisfaction – and may we choose to stay peaceful, loving and calm no matter what finds us.

Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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What Writing Poetry Every Morning at Sunrise Taught Me

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Before the end of 2019, I created a goal uniquely mine with one goal: to “have something to do every day that would help me feel better.” I remembered the past, when I would write haiku and post them on facebook before the start of the workday, one friend of mine enjoyed reading them and I enjoyed writing them. The number 377 ties me to writing one haiku – a Japanese form of poetry noted for being short and to the point.

I knew if I made it a difficult goal, I might run the risk of not completing it. I gave myself space to fail AND I knew if I paid attention and made sure I had a guideline to write before a certain time of day, I would have a greater likelihood of success.

In early July I had the idea to do a “sub” goal or a micro-goal. I created a specific intention within the initial one. This time, I was going to write a haiku poem every day at sunrise for a month.

I didn’t expect the potent impact this simple practice had on my life, especially since I had already been writing daily haiku for more than six months, everyday. This new tweak to the goal definitely put the entire project onto a higher playing field.

  1. Micro-goals rock: Small, short-term and do-able goals build confidence and make the process of accomplishment even more fun.
  2. Having accountability via public proclamation is both slightly intimidating and brings about an extra zap of love, hope and optimism. I used my facebook page initially. Now I share on other social media platforms and text to specific friends. During the last week of the month, I also share daily gratitude lists and invite others to share their gratitude lists, too.

Haiku 192 – July 2, 2020

Sunrise at the Panorama Bluffs in Bakersfield, California.

trees hold a secret

golden laces weave their leaves

lone bunny watches

  1. Watching the first light of day is one of the most optimistic acts I can imagine during this particular point of our history. It is something I can trust.
  2. Falling in love with sunrise is akin to falling in love with life, falling in love with the place I live, and falling in love with the people who show up and engage with my posts.

July 14, 2020 Haiku 204/377

A mallard duck family swims in the canal off Brundage Lane in Bakersfield at Sunrise

Urban pastoral

Mallard mama quacks fiercely

distant palm stands tall

  1. Grace is a dear friend who embraces me, everytime
  2. Doing unconventional things will attract attention and odd conversations.
  3. Standing on a creative ledge is inspiring even if we are simply doing it for fun

Haiku 208/377 July 18, 2020

Loco Weed (moonblossoms) blooming at Sunrise beside the Calloway bridge in Southwest Bakersfield

poison loco weed

feels the magnetic charm’s call

time for you to sleep

  1. When there is no boss to create goals or tasks for you, you may become the best task master you ever imagined.
  2. My senses are improved because of daily attention and fine tuning.

Haiku 213/377 – July 23, 2020

A pumpjack (oil well) in North Bakersfield at sunrise.

silent old pump jack

sees another day begin

Skoal can on gravel

  1. When we are prone to documenting how terrible things are don’t get up and witness the sunrise every day.
  2. Witnessing sunrise is a potent non-chemical anti-depressant. Because I am well aware of the current news cycle in order to be an informed citizen, this sunrise haiku practice has kept me grounded and present as an optimistic realist.

Haiku 220/377 July 30, 2020 

Sunrise at an organic citrus farm off Edison Highway and Pepper Avenue outside of East Bakersfield.

Organic citrus

north of Edison Highway

proud palm trees stand guard

There are two days left for this micro-goal, even though July is almost over. After this, I will be writing seven days of Coffee Haiku, inspired by a friend I made on Instagram. After that, I may return to sunrise because it feels so good to be outside when it is still cool during a hot Bakersfield summer.

Which of these photos and haiku poems resonates with you most?

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Art-Making: Is Creativity “Just for the Joy” enough?

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I have a body of work that is rather unique. I have been working on it since 2013 in a quasi-secret manner.

From time to time I think of doing something with it because I find it deeply interesting on a variety of levels: it has elements of visual storytelling, it is a commentary on the current state of our country and world and in a way, it shines a light on the strength of the human spirit.

Some of you know what I am about to say.

My name is Julie and I love taking photos of shopping carts, abandoned in places other than grocery store parking lots.

Today I was on my morning walk on a path near my home in an urban series of parkways surrounding the Kern River. This particular section of it is mostly unknown to others. I have for years thought of it as an “underbelly place”. 

Nonetheless, I can walk there and oftentimes feel as immersed in nature as if I was far from home. I certainly wasn’t expecting to come upon this glorious shopping cart in the midst of vines, moonblossoms and sunflower patches.

I sent the four shots I took to one of my “real artist” friends. Naturally he exclaimed his admiration.

“But which has the best composition, in your opinion?” I asked him. “You’re always telling me to feature the photo has the best composition.”

One of my rules for this body of work is to not move anything I come upon, but that I may circle around and move however I see fit. In this case, I quietly looked around for the owner of this particular cart. When I see them in places like this, it is usually in a “doorway” to a make shift shelter. 

There was nothing like that here.

I didn’t want to anger the owner. 

I took four photos in total and the one above is my favorite.

Once again, I fully enjoyed and immersed myself in an underbelly place, a space many people would be afraid to visit much less use as a subject of art.

I first discovered this space when I was unschooling Samuel in the first grade. I had discovered his behavior problems were actually caused by autism. At that time, I didn’t know a child with autism could also teach himself to read and be very intelligent.

School became a torture chamber of an experience and I believed because autism has a strong social element, he needed to be in a conventional school setting for his life long success and set the district to work to on a plan for his education that was suitable for his unique needs – maybe this video was the genesis of my interest in “underbelly” places. Interesting, because this was a “blind” self-portrait. I couldn’t see myself as I took the video unlike the videos of today.

I doubt anyone else beside me will ever care about my shopping cart/underbelly obsession.

I’m currently re-reading “Letters to a Young Poet” a collection of responses from Rainer Rilke in a correspondence where a young man pondered a similar question:

“Will anyone besides me ever care about my poetry?” he wondered. Rainer Rilke wrote a series of letters to a young poet in the military academy he once attended. That earnest young poet, Frank Xaver Kappus, sent poems for Rilke to peruse. Most notably, he sought approval and commentary.

In his first letter back to Mr. Kappus, Rainer Rilke suggests he stop asking for opinions from other people. He wrote,

“Nobody can advise and help you, nobody. There’s only one way to proceed. Go inside yourself. Explore the reason that compels you to write; test whether it stretches your roots into the deepest part of your heart, admit to yourself whether you would have to die if the opportunity to write were withheld from you. Above all, ask yourself at your most silent hour, must I write? Dig inside yourself for a deep answer. And if the answer is yes, if it is possible for you to respond to this serious question with a strong and simple I must, then build your life on the basis of this necessity.”

I decided long ago it doesn’t matter if anyone cares or doesn’t care about these photos. What matters is I care. What matters is I enjoy the process. What matters is I grow as a writer and observer of life as well as growing as a photographer.

If my necessity of life is to enjoy my life as a creative – and allow the space for my heart to dance with glee when I come upon a seen like a shopping cart on a walking path like this – that is enough. Any other recognition is a bonus.

Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Better: Everyday in Tiny Yet Impactful Ways

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person walking barefoot on the sand, self care improving the world one step at a time.

“I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.”

Anne Frank

A long time ago I wrote an article with the premise being “Self-care is the least selfish act you may choose to take because when you take excellent care of yourself, you will contribute so much better to the lives of others.”

I look at this Anne Frank quote: herself only a teen and caught in the middle of horrific circumstances and somehow, she got it. Somehow she got it and her words were found and have been shared with the world for generations.

With our current pandemic and our cultural climate of dissension in this world of “us and them” we can be blinded by the reality we are in this together.

Americans, who are used to being able to leave our country on a whim, can’t anymore. We complain, when Anne Frank was cramped in an attic with her family, another family and a single man.

How did Anne quiet the sounds of thunder, getting closer and closer and ultimately leading to her death?

She wrote in her diary to feel better and to figure out what her experiences meant for her. She expressed her hope to no one except the pages of her book – her one friend, never imagining the impact her words would have.

Anne Frank quote on wilderness and optimism, despite what she experiences.

What one small self-care step are you willing to take to improve your life?

How might this improvement to your life turn into a positive contribution for the rest of the world?

Julie JordanScott sits among lupine wildflowers. As the Creative Life Midwife, she also loves nature!
Julie JordanScott is the Creative Life Coach who loves challenging herself and those she works with to continually seek new methods of inspiration, to allow oneself to be delighted and surprised and to wake up, nurture, encourage and grow your inner artist, genius, explorer and best self daily.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Refresh Your Beliefs: the 2020 Version

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A teal tabletop flatlay with a coffee cup, paperclips and pencils. A new Way to Work with Beliefs While Living Your 2020 Pandemic Life

One of the most helpful writing prompts I have used with my students, coaching clients and with myself is “I believe.”

Lately as we have become more fractured and unfortunately too often stuck in the underlying fog of “us versus them” and “If you are one of them” (someone not like me) than I can’t talk (work, play. Collaborate, talk) with you. 

This is why in the pop up #refresh2020 group that when I asked people about what they believe I qualified it like this:

Before you hit reply and respond with a lot of what you have said before please spend a few moments (or longer, perhaps write in your journal or go for a walk or listen to music or watch a TV show you love or have a conversation with this question hovering n the background of your mind.)

What do you believe – about what has been going on in your life right now?

What do you believe when you see situations that upset you, that you can’t control or influence?

  • What do you believe when you have been at the top of your game and the world and the people you love are praising you for no other reason than you showed up in the same space they are in?
  • What do you believe when you are lying under a canopy of stars or you were just in a car accident or are sitting in a hospital or close to death or just witnessed the birth of a child?
  • What do you believe when you can’t live like you always have before?
  • What do you believe when you are sitting in the rubble or are face to face with your greatest fear?

Finally, add any scenarios that will help you to move beyond what you might have written or thought before… allow it to simmer… and when you come back to the questioning space here – share examples from your direct experience about what it is that brings you to that belief.

Feeling back into what we believe is crucial to creating and living out our vision as we finish out this rocky, tumultuous, unexpected, confusing, beautiful, unwanted year of 2020.

Whenever I am invited to share my beliefs, a song by Blessid Union of Souls starts playing in my mind. Today, I would like to share a bit of that song with you. If you would like, watch the video.

Here is a change I made in my beliefs in 2020, a modification that is in alignment for my long standing belief that love is the answer, the quetion and the action plan.

Today I am thinking and feeling I believe in haiku. I believe in the power of daily creative practice and sharing that practice with a receptive audience. This makes me laugh – but my daily haiku practice….has shifted so much for me… and it was started BECAUSE…

(lyrics from the Blessid Union of Souls single “I Believe…”

Open up your mind and then open up your heart

You will see that you and me aren’t very far apart

Cause I believe love is the answer

I believe love will find a way

Before you leave this blog, I would enjoy hearing your first thoughts – not your final thoughts on this way of looking at what you believe in general, but choose one of the scenarios and make up a first draft response. Clarity, feeling better and healing are right at the end of your keyboard.

Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in 2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. Click the graphic below to join the Private Facebook Group to join the conversation!

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Let’s Explore Trust: How to Grow in Trust Every Day

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A sunrise photo with flowers and the title "Growing in Trust, one day at a time."

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don’t know how to start talking about trust. How can I talk about something I know so little about, if I am completely honest?

At the root or core of my life experience, no single person has been 100% trustworthy. I have not been able to trust myself. While I trust God in the long run, it seems unreasonable to trust God in some of this day-to-day when so many horrific things take place day after-day-after-day. (please note, this is not written to be a theological discussion and in fact, this is an exercise in vulnerability which I believe God appreciates.)

Perhaps this is why I have been so focused on writing haiku for the last two hundred plus days. I can trust one simple action – and now, since July 2, I have been “writing sunrise haiku” because I trust the sun to rise, each and every day.

I can trust that.

I can look up the time of day it will move above the horizon and every day – whether the clouds cover it or it is clear as a whistle, the light comes.

This I trust.

Light through a tree at sunrise with the Maya Angelou quote, "Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time."

I have trusted myself to scribble seventeen syllables each morning as well: not because my boss told me if I didn’t I would be in trouble. I wrote haiku because I thought it would be fun, not because a doctor told me to do so. I contemplated at least one present moment every day because I knew it was good for my spirit and maybe even for the spirit of others – not because of any oath or promise or contract other than the one I made with myself.

For the last 206 days I have proven to myself in this one instance I am trustworthy.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe reminded me this morning, “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”

This morning I shared my sunrise photo and haiku on my facebook page in the same way I have been doing for all these days. Within the first moments, people were enjoying it – and receiving peace simply by looking at the photo and reading the words.

I am slowly gaining trust in myself again and my actions are in alignment with this trust.

When we are open to explore and be authentic with our responses to questions such as these, we will grow in ways unmeasurable. Yes, we will truly know what it is to live.

Note: This essay began as a free-flow writing exercise and as a result has had minimal editing. Sometimes trusting the raw word-flow is what is most important.

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in 2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. Click the graphic below to join the Private Facebook Group to join the conversation!

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